An Open Letter to the Not-So Anonymous
A few years ago I made a post about anonymity and went on and on about how people tend to hide behind the "anonymous" in order to show their true colors. I then proceeded to talk about how social media has technically rendered us anonymous as well. That we can say or express whatever we are feeling without real consequence. (Read here if you'd like: x)
Recently, there has been a materialization of those early theories that haven't really been that surprising. I am not saying these things to put anyone on blast or anything like that. To be honest, the matters in which it materialized are personal and to be frank, don't involve me directly. I am simply making an observation and am curious to see if people agree with me on this observation...especially on a social media outlet. This observation is merely an opinion on the way in which people use social media.
Why is it that we hide behind twitter, tumblr, instagram, etc to set free the worst versions of ourselves? Some might even go as far as saying that it expresses the TRUE version of ourselves and at best, it sometimes can be pretty ugly. Twitter is a clusterfuck for misinterpretation. But it also is a weapon of mass destruction. It allows people to say whatever they want and expect no consequence.
If you spit vicious negativity and expect to go about your day without any sort of reaction, you are wrong. You genuinely think it's okay to say things (which blows my mind) and the minute someone confronts you about it, get upset. Don't dish if you can't handle a reaction. This should be a general rule in LIFE not just on twitter or wherever.
I will never, ever, ever, ever understand how people find joy or humor in making others feel small. I will never understand being entertained by mutual hatred without valid reason. I can't BEGIN to understand justifying it with weak excuses and being okay with yourself. For the record, that doesn't make me "better" it makes me human and compassionate.
I am making my own assumptions for how people behave the way they do simply based on the fact that when asked why they behave a certain way, there is no response. (For the record, this is a general "people" it's not just something that has happened recently but I've seen it several times). My guess is that they are ashamed and can't handle being called out on what kind of person they are portraying themselves as. Weakness is a contradictingly (probably not a word) powerful thing. It stems hate and jealousy and pettiness.
Who do you want to be? Please ask yourself this. If someone were to write your story, how would you, as a person, like to be interpreted? If it's that you WANT to be mean and heartless, then so be it. I sure as hell can't stop you if that's what you've decided on. But I'm going to make the obvious (god, I hope it's an obvious one) assumption that most people would like to see their reflection and feel proud and happy about who they are.
I have made a general rule in life to dish out what I think I deserve. To treat people with respect REGARDLESS of whether or not I think THEY deserve it. It doesn't help or change anything to be disrespectful. It only satisfies your need to validate some secret thing you're looking for but will never be able to admit it or realize it. The ever foreboding desire to be accepted. To fit in.
Moment of self-reflection you all were waiting for. I am by NO MEANS perfect. And I have definitely created this rule out of mistakes that I, myself, have made. Moments where I reflected and thought, wow that was really shitty of me. I can completely admit that and discuss that openly. I have been that person. But what's good is realizing that and deliberately changing it. Not being prideful and defensive, but being open and willing to accept flaws in order to better yourself...because that's the whole point, right?
The whole point of this rant isn't to point fingers or say that YOU, YES YOU, YOU ARE BAD AT HUMANING! No. It's mainly my very small way of trying to garner some sort of attention on that self-reflection. Maybe this won't be read. Maybe it will. But if you can take anything from it, please don't see this as an opportunity to bash anyone. It's truly not. It's my novel-y, many-worded, way of saying "Think about you what you say before you say it. Do unto others what you would want done unto yourself. Insert inspirational 'don't be mean' quote here."
